


Make Your Own Hope

by TigStripe



Series: End of an Era [1]
Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, The Last Jedi
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon Rewrite, Canto Bight, Gen, Poe's Ring, Rewrite, The Last Jedi - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-27 12:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13247799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigStripe/pseuds/TigStripe
Summary: A re-imagining of the Canto Bight excursion in "The Last Jedi" if Poe had been the one to accompany Finn, instead of Rose. Begins on the transport to Canto Bight, and ends with our heroes en route to Crait to meet up with the rest of the Resistance.*SPOILER WARNING* - This work is a re-telling of "The Last Jedi." As such, the end result is much the same. It should not be read by fans looking to avoid TLJ information.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the Resistance fleet running out of fuel and ways out of the First Order's clutches, Finn, Poe, and Rose hatch a plan to save everyone. It'll be dangerous, but with Rose keeping things in check back with the Resistance, Poe and Finn can focus on saving the day.

It was an unfortunate bout of circumstances. When Rose had appeared with Finn, that familiar sinking feeling hit Poe in the gut like a barfight. But their discussion had been an enlightening one, and by the end of it, Poe's heart had begun to race. Maz had said Canto Bight. Poe'd been there once before. He didn't particularly hate it, but something there had felt _off_ to him. But now he'd be heading that way with a comrade in arms, instead of heading there for a weekend of gambling.

Something about their conversation had also disturbed Poe on a subliminal level. He remembered Rose's somewhat giddy grin when he asked how she'd met Finn. She'd called it luck. That comment sparked a weird, burning sensation Poe hadn't felt before. The muscles on the back of his neck had tensed, like a fight-or-flight response. He'd shaken it off quickly, but it had happened, and it had started to nag at the pilot.

The rest of the conversation had gone swimmingly. Rose had agreed to work with Lieutenant Connix to make sure the Resistance ships were prepped for the jump once Poe, Finn, and BB-8 managed to get the tracking system disabled. The side quest to Canto Bight was just another part of the plan.

The streaking light of lightspeed illuminated the tiny craft Poe had commandeered, and the two of them found themselves sitting with the little droid in nervous silence. They had eighteen hours before the fleet ran out of fuel. Ideally, it would take about four hours to get to Canto Bight, two to three hours to find the master codebreaker Maz spoke of, and four hours to get back to the fleet. That gave them eight hours' leeway to get onto the First Order ship and disable the tracking system. Eight hours wasn't much leeway, realistically speaking.

“You up for this?” Poe asked over his shoulder. Kind of a pointless question, seeing as they were both already on the transport.

Finn's response was...shaky. “I guess I have to be.”

Poe turned the pilot's seat a bit and clapped a hand on Finn's shoulder. He could feel the cold leather of his old jacket under his palm. He absentmindedly massaged it, forgetting it was on someone else. “It's okay to be scared, buddy. No sane person would be okay with a mission like this.”

Finn nodded. “Yeah.” Suddenly, he locked eyes with Poe. “Are you okay with it?”

Poe stared for just a second, somewhat surprised by the directness of the question, then laughed and turned back to face the front of the shuttle. “Of course I am! I said no _sane_ person.”

They lapsed into silence again, but Poe was determined to keep Finn distracted from the heaviness of their situation.

“So,” Poe said.

“So?”

“Rose. She seems nice,” Poe said, a little cautiously.

“She tazed me.”

“Well, yeah, but you two seem to get along pretty well.”

“Poe. She _tazed_ me.”

“So she made a bad first impression,” Poe said with a chuckle. “She seemed pretty excited to be talking with us.”

“I couldn't feel my teeth, Poe.”

“Okay, okay. It's a work in progress.”

Silence again.

This time, it was Finn who spoke up. “What do you think of her?”

“Who?”

“What do you mean, who? Rose.”

Poe felt that weird burning sensation in his chest again. He cleared his throat. “She seems nice,” he said again.

“So you said.”

Poe paused for a moment, then, before he could stop it, “She's no Rey.”

Finn fell dead silent, leaving Poe to mentally slap himself a few times.

They continued in silence for almost an hour, only intermittently broken by BB-8 bothering Poe about this or that, before Finn finally spoke up again. “I hope Rey's okay. I hope she found Luke.”

“From what I've heard of her, she's fine,” Poe replied. He noticed that the burning in his chest had returned, but it felt...lighter? “You worry too much about her. She's a survivor, and a jedi to boot.”

“You're right, but she's no ace pilot. She wasn't trained in the Republic or the Resistance. She's not a soldier like you.”

Poe winced. He'd not been called a soldier in a long time. “It's a blessing and a curse,” he replied.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it's hard leaving people you love to go on a dangerous mission,” Poe admitted. “I haven't even tried to have someone else in my life since I joined the Resistance. I can't promise them I'll come home alive, and I would never want someone to worry over me like that.” Poe heard BB-8 whine sadly at his feet, acknowledging his story.

Finn fell silent again, and this time, Poe turned to look at him. He was sitting there in the back of the shuttle, his eyes low and his brow furrowed.

“You okay?” Poe asked, that cold shock of concern creeping up his spine.

Finn was quiet for a moment longer, then looked up at Poe with what looked like pain in his eyes. “I worried over you,” he admitted, a little quieter than Poe expected. “When the TIE fighter sank, I lost it. It was all I could do to grab your jacket.”

The burning in Poe's chest completely disappeared. He cleared his throat and blinked away a tear. “I, uh, I was worried about you too, buddy. But you're not that kind of worried for Rey, are you? You know she's safe with Skywalker.”

Finn nodded, but Poe saw a tear forming in the corner of his eye.

“Listen, Finn.” Poe turned the pilot seat completely to look Finn square in the eye. “Rey will be fine. We will do this, and everyone will get out. I promise. You've given the Resistance – _me –_ hope. What you did on the Starkiller base was nothing less than heroic. What we're doing here will bring hope to everyone again.” He took Finn firmly by the shoulders. “No more worrying about each other. I've got your back, you've got mine, and Rey has both of ours.”

Finn nodded firmly in reply, and Poe tentatively let go of his shoulders. Poe could feel a weight on his chest that had not been there before – a familiar one. He shook his head and turned back to the front of the ship.

Poe's voice was much more steady than he felt. “No more fretting. Let's do this, buddy.”

 

Canto Bight was a dazzling place. Even in the dead of night, the city glowed brilliantly from its night lift bustling along. Finn couldn't remember seeing a city so... _alive_.

Poe had expertly set the shuttle down in a large field of overgrown wild grasses – they reached well over Finn's head – well outside of the patrols of city law enforcement. It took them almost an hour to walk to the casino atop the hill, which allowed Finn to take in the hustle and bustle aplenty. He would point at something, maybe a shop with stylish gowns or sparkling jewelry, or a personal vehicle that looked more expensive than an X-wing, and laugh. It was so overwhelming to see people who had clearly made their lives easy bustle about with their possessions. BB-8 seemed to appreciate his enthusiasm, rushing up to almost everything Finn pointed at and observing it up close.

What Finn didn't see was the sadness in Poe's eyes that followed each pointed finger.

Finally, they reached the casino's front steps. People in way too lavish clothes bustled in and out of the seemingly golden-plated hall, most taking no notice of the two less-than-stylish men in leather jackets, although some did display some awareness of their presence with well-timed sneers. Finn didn't notice. His eyes were too busy darting this way and that, taking in everything he could about his surroundings, not necessarily the people.

The casino was noisy. Overly so. Finn's ears adjusted to the noise quickly, but it was still a jarring thing to walk into. The sound of people talking, glasses clinking, cheering, dice rolling, groans of disappointment, cash outputs from the slots machines...there was just so much to hear, Finn realized he'd stopped moving just to take it all in.

Poe grabbed Finn by the jacket and yanked on it, pulling him over to the main floor. Tables upon tables of various gambling games were set up, each one more crowded by overly dressed individuals than the last.

“Red plom bloom,” Poe reminded Finn. He tried to make a little drawing of what they were looking for in the air with his fingers, but he didn't get much futher than a heart, over and over. Finn felt a chuckle start, but he suppressed it.

The two separated, inspecting the high stakes tables as well as they could – their apparel was actively obstructing them, now, as the rich-looking folk would bustle them out of the crowds to get a better look at the tables. Finn began to think he was invisible. He even managed to sneak a drink at one of the bars, with the bartender looking _straight at him_.

Ten minutes passed. No red plom bloom.

Twenty minutes. No red plom bloom.

Thirty minutes, gone. No red plom bloom.

After about forty-five minutes, Finn found Poe out on the main floor, near the slots machines, a sour look on the pilot's face. BB-8 was nearby, surveying the area with an intermittent whoop or whir.

“No luck?” Finn almost didn't want to ask, but he had to make sure – Poe's face looked outright bitter.

“No, no luck, and I'll be damned if I ever roll at these tables again,” Poe declared, his arms crossed in frustration.

Finn balked. “Poe. Did...did you gamble?”

Poe fumed in response. BB-8 rolled over to them and gave Finn an affirming, disappointed drone.

The casino began to rumble, first a little, then rather rudely, and Finn saw silhouettes of large quadrupeds against the far wall of the casino. Poe noticed them, too, and his eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Is that...?”

Without a warning, Poe was rushing off to staircase leading up to the upper levels of the casino, BB-8 trailing close behind. Finn followed them, but did not notice BB-8 get stopped by a short little alien donned in a tuxedo and monacle, drink in hand. The little droid looked the alien up and down, only to receive a raucous belch to the optical drive.

Finn dashed up the stairs after Poe, up at least three landings, until he saw the pilot head out of the stairwell and down a hallway leading to a bleacher-style seating outdoors. Finn caught up to him atop the nose bleed section of a stadium overlooking a large circular race track, with several racers already engaged below. The crowds were cheering and hollering in some sections, and quietly watching in anticipation in others. Finn noticed the quieter sections were typically garbed in more expensive-looking clothes.

“Poe, what's going on?” Finn asked as he reached his friend's side.

Poe was watching the racers intently. “Fathiers,” he said. “I wondered if it might be.”

“Fathiers?” Finn looked down at the racers, and suddenly realized how the entire casino might reverberate from the event. The creatures were enormous – tall enough to stride over Finn without touching him, with sandy brown fur covering them from head to toe. They ran on four long, lean legs, and had lengthy necks that their riders clung to as they ran. Even from up in the nose bleed section, Finn noticed how intelligent their faces looked – and pained. He saw the electrical flashes as the jockeys used shock sticks to urge their mounts forward. He saw some barren, scarred sections on the hides of several of the steeds.

“Pretty standard treatment of racing steeds,” Poe told Finn. “Poke something hard enough that it hurts, and it'll start listening. Cooperating, even if it doesn't want to.” His lips tightened into a hard, unreadable expression.

“This place is incredible,” Finn said quietly, looking around at all the crowds. “Everyone is so happy. So excited. It's so beautiful here. I can't believe they would stand for such treatment of animals.”

Finn heard Poe scoff to his side. “These people don't care about others. Look around. They're wealthy. Super wealthy. What do you think they do during wartime that gets them this wealthy?”

Finn almost heard the click inside his own mind. “They're arms dealers,” he whispered. Poe nodded. “They sell to the First Order?”

“And their supporters, no doubt,” Poe replied. “I wouldn't be surprised if some of them even sold to the Republic or the Resistance. Just to make a mint, they don't care who gets hurt.”

Finn sat on that statement. Why would anyone sell weapons to both sides of a war? Did they not pick a side in the conflict? Was Poe right – did money really dictate their actions so thoroughly?

“Look,” Poe said, pointing to the grassy area in the middle of the race track. Finn followed his finger, and saw a group of small children being pushed around by some kind of stable keep. One of the fathiers was giving him an issue, and when he took out his shock stick to beat it into submission, the children rose up. With but a simple push, the stable hand knocked them to the dirt and continued his duties.

“They can't help that creature,” Finn said. “They don't have any way to make him stop.”

Poe shook his head. “You're wrong. It may look that way now, but those kids look like they care for the fathiers. They nurture those things. They make sure they have some peace in the day. That keeps the fathiers going.”

“But what good does that do them?” Finn asked. “The big guy's got the stick.”

Poe shrugged. “Right now, he does. But some day, one of those kids is going to take that stick from him. It may not be today, but it'll happen. Maybe one day one of the kids will be rich enough to buy out the casino, and set them free.”

“Those are maybes and ifs, though,” Finn urged. “That's not...”

“It's realistic,” Poe spat. “Sometimes, hope is all we have. Sometimes, we have to make our own hope. They'll get their chance. They just have to wait for it.”

Finn looked hard at his friend's face, staring intently down at the children below. “...We're not talking about those kids anymore, are we?”

Poe was silent for almost an entire lap of the race. Finally, he turned away from the track and Finn, saying simply, “Let's go. We have a codebreaker to find.”

Back downstairs, the casino was as busy as before.

Finn hit the main floor and shook his head. “How are we supposed to find this guy if we haven't yet?”

BB-8 came rushing up to meet them, warbling something at Poe excitedly. Poe crouched down to meet his droid, and he listened intently. “A red plom bloom? Where? Show us, buddy.”

The droid pivoted in place and rushed across the floor, Finn and Poe hot on its tail. They approached a high stakes table with quite a large crowd surrounding it, but were stopped short by security.

“Sir, weapons aren't permitted on the premises,” the guard said, holding up a hand to Poe. The two watched past the guard, but could not see anyone with a red plom bloom pin.

“Sir, you'll have to forfeit your weapon,” another guard told Poe.

“I don't have a weapon, get out of my way,” Poe said, trying to push past the guards. An R5 droid rolled up and beeped in their general direction.

“The droid says you do,” a guard said. He reached for Poe, but Poe stepped back.

“Poe, did you bring a blaster in here?” Finn asked.

Poe shook his head and made a noise like Finn's question had been a joke. “Of course not,” he said, his brow furrowed and his eyes on the guards.

The crowd at the table cheered, and started to dissipate. As people started walking past the guards, the R5 droid beeped at them again. The guard brandished a large shock baton and gestured towards Poe, who raised his hands in submission.

“Search him,” the guard said. Another guard reached around Poe's waistband, drawing a small pocket blaster from his trousers. “Droid was right. Take them.”

Before Finn could even move, he felt a searing pain course throughout his body as a shock baton made contact with his back, just underneath the scarred tissue from his battle with Kylo Ren. He cried out, and the world around him went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escaping Canto Bight looks like a tall order, but our heroes will find a way, somehow. May the Force be with them.

Poe jerked awake with a start, his entire body seizing from leftover electrical sensations running through his nerves. The ground beneath him was hard and flat, which caused some dull pain when he thrashed up, his tailbone bouncing from the sudden movement. He bent forward in pain, his hand reaching for his rear in reflex.

“Can you feel your teeth?” The voice shocked Poe to the here and now, his eyes wide open and taking in his surroundings immediately. He saw Finn sitting atop a prison bed carved into the dingy, dark stone wall. Finn's mouth was tight, his eyes boring holes into Poe's skull. His hands were clasped in what Poe could only guess was frustration.

Poe suddenly realized that, no, he couldn't feel his teeth. He ran his tongue over them several times, but, nope. Nothing.

“So that's what that feels like,” Poe muttered. He rolled onto his knees and sat back on his legs, looking up at Finn. “How long was I out?”

Finn shrugged. “No idea. They knocked me out, too. Took BB-8, from what I can tell.”

“If they hurt my droid,” Poe began, but he stopped himself. He looked down at his wrist, where the schematic projector Rose had given him was. He tapped a few buttons, and a display appeared above his arm, showing the rather dire fuel situation of the Resistance fleet.

“How are they doing?” Finn asked.

“They've got about six hours of fuel left,” Poe muttered darkly. “Finn, we've been out for a long time.” He looked up at Finn, a cold sweat starting on his neck. “We've gotta get out of here.”

Finn leaned back and sighed. “I already looked while you were still out. I don't see a way out of here.”

Poe searched the cell for a few minutes. The walls, floor, and ceiling all seemed to be carved out of the same piece of stone or concrete. The grating at the front of the cell was simple enough, although Poe noticed a small box attached to one part of the door, signifying an activatable electrical current. The guards could shock the inmates if they made too much noise on the cell fronts.

Across the room from Finn was another set of bunks carved into the wall, with a sleeping cellmate facing away from them, covered in a dark coat. Poe tried not to disturb him while looking around, but did notice the man smelled suspiciously like alcohol.

Finally, Poe came and sat on the bed next to Finn, his head in his hands. The cold sweat had developed into self-induced terror.

_Six hours._

_Six hours._

_Six hours._

_Six hours, and I'm stuck in a cell. Six hours, and the plan is over. Six hours, and the Resistance dies. Because I had to have a stupid handgun._

Tears welled up in Poe's eyes. He was glad Finn couldn't see. The Resistance was going to die, and it was Poe's fault. First, with the Dreadnaught, Poe managed to get the majority of the other pilots killed, and now, his own ego has stopped him from saving everyone.

“Poe?” Finn's voice was quiet.

Poe choked back the sob and shook his head. He didn't look at Finn.

“Poe. What's the plan?”

 _Good question_ , Poe thought. What _was_ the plan? They had six hours to get back to the fleet, board the First Order lead ship, disable the tracking device, and escape to the Resistance.

That checklist was one of the most absurd things Poe has ever made in his life.

“Poe!” Poe felt Finn's hand on his shoulder. It was meant to comfort the pilot, but all Poe felt was an increasing sense of disappointment. Not only would the mission fail, but Finn was stuck in prison with him. For some reason, the crushing weight of failure tripled when Poe thought of Finn sitting there beside him.

“Just...give me a minute,” Poe whispered. He felt Finn's hand on his shoulder grip tighter. It didn't alleviate the weight on Poe's chest, but it did give him a warm feeling. Like maybe, _just maybe_ , he was overreacting.

The two sat in silence, Poe's head in his hands, and Finn's hand on Poe's shoulder, each contemplating. Finally, Poe sat up and sighed.

“The plan,” he said, more resolutely than he felt, “the plan hasn't changed. We need to get out of here. We've got a master codebreaker to find. Get onto Snoke's ship, disable the tracking system, and get back to the fleet.”

“How do we get out?” Finn asked. “We've both looked over this room. There's no way out.”

“The door's electronic,” Poe replied. “If we had a slicer's tools, we might have a way out, but...”

“So much for that,” Finn finished.

The lump of a prisoner on the far bed shifted, sitting up and looking over at the two of them. “T-T-You fellas need a codebreaker?”

Poe squinted in the dark of the room to see the man better. He looked disheveled and downtrodden, like he'd been trampled by a fathier before being thrown in prison. Last week. “Uh, we didn't say that,” Poe lied.

“You did. You said you needed a codebreaker. You said it rather loudly.” The man's movements were impaired. Wavy. Like he was recovering from a hard night. “I'm a master codebreaker. I can do it.”

“We...have it covered. Thanks,” Finn said.

“T-T-Suit yourself,” the man said with a shrug. He stood up, stretched, and reached into his jacket for something. Sauntering over to the door, he fiddled with something between his fingers. Poe followed the man's movements with his eyes, but said nothing.

The man reached out through the bars in the door and flicked his wrist down to the electronic box on the front of the lock. He shot Finn and Poe a quick grin, and the door slammed open, along with every door in the block. The other prisoner just gave the two a quick wave, and sauntered out the now-opened door.

Poe gave Finn a confused look, and the two of them bolted for the door.

“We've gotta get out of here,” Finn said, watching the jailbreaker walk down one direction of the hall.

Poe looked Finn square in the eye. “I'm not going anywhere without my droid.”

The two of them dashed in the opposite direction from their savior, rushing down the hallway past sleeping drunks and confused inmates. They soon came to a guard station, where three guards were being assaulted by a couple of released inmates. Finn and Poe dodged by the station, heading up a nearby set of stairs, leading hopefully to BB-8 and freedom.

The jail level was one level down from the casino floor. When Poe realized they'd come out onto the main floor of the establishment, he couldn't help but laugh. This casino was so large, it had its own containment level. The arrogance was astounding.

“Do you see BB-8?” Poe asked, looking around in a fevered rush. Finn searched as well, but he didn't see the droid anywhere.

“ _Stop!_ ” Guards were filtering onto the floor from an assortment of staircases. Some were armed with shock batons, others just appeared to be bodies for intimidation. Either way, they outnumbered the Resistance members ten to one, and with no droid in sight, the plan was clear.

It was Poe's idea. “Run.”

The two made a mad dash out the back of the casino, nearly bowling over a dapper gentleman in a white overcoat at one of the high stakes tables in their haste. The guards shuffled as well as they could as a large force in a confined space, which gave the two escapees the advantage. Before they knew it, they were running out onto the track at the back of the casino. No races were in session, so the crowds were nonexistent. Unfortunately, that meant no crowds in which to hide. Luckily the pathways out to the track were narrow, buying them time until the first guard's foot hit the racing track.

The fathier stables were eerily quiet as Poe closed the door behind them, looking for a place to hide for a moment. Several stable cells lined the back wall, each one ten feet high or more, barred by large, metal doors that would retract come race time. Finn started searching for something – anything – to defend himself with, but Poe felt a pull on his mind. Something told him they were where they needed to be.

“Finn,” Poe whispered, urging him back to him. As Finn approached, a fathier's massive form appeared behind one of the cell doors, peeking over it and leering down at the two men with large, dark, intelligent eyes.

“It's beautiful,” Finn said.

That strange sensation in the back of Poe's mind urged him forward. He stepped up to the cell door and placed his hand on the release button. With a hiss of air, the doors slid apart, revealing a small stable boy curled up in the corner, half-buried in fathier hay and fur. Poe focused on the boy, and felt...assured. There was something different about this boy.

“Hey,” Poe said in a whisper. “Hey, can you help us?”

The boy jumped to his feet and postured as though he was going to slam on the alarm at the back of the cell. Poe raised his hands in a gesture of peace, combined with a, “Hey, woah, it's okay.”

The boy stood frozen, hand hovering over the alarm, eyes locked on Poe. Poe reached into his pocket and brought out a signet ring. “It's okay,” he said, showing the ring to the boy. “Look.” With a twist, the ring opened to reveal the symbol of the Resistance. “It's okay. We're with the Resistance.”

The boy looked at the ring, then back up at Poe. His stance softened, and his hand lowered. The fathier next to him watched the scene unfold without moving.

“Can you help us?” Poe asked the boy. For the first time since landing in Canto Bight, Poe felt something positive stir within him.

A short while later, guards entered the stable, shock batons in hand. They closed in on the back line of cells, but before they could open any, each and every one of them hissed open, revealing a stampede of fathiers. One in the middle sported a saddle, topped by two devilishly handsome Resistance fighters. Poe patted the fathier's neck and dug his heels into its side to signal the need to go faster, and the creature obliged, leading the pack of racers out onto the field on the inside of the track.

The herd, under Poe's guidance, rushed straight through the casino, and out into the streets, panicked denizens of Canto Bight scattering from the potentially hazardous footfalls of the animals.

“We good?” Finn asked over the rush of dozens of hooved footsteps.

As if to answer the man's question, a small craft appeared over the roof of a nearby building, spotlight shining down on the road and onto the herd.

“Doesn't look like it,” Poe shouted back. He dug his heels into the fathier's side again, and the creature doubled down on its sprint.

Poe heard a blaster's percussion, and a small explosion of sparks erupted on the road near the lead fathier's feet. It jerked in response, but continued its direction and speed. Poe looked back at the craft, his eyes wide in surprise.

“ _They're firing on us?_ ” he cried. “There are innocents on the street!”

“We need cover!” Finn shouted. Again, as if to answer Finn's request, the fathier leaped to one side of the road, then pivoted on seemingly one foot to dodge down a narrow hallway barely tall enough for the creature. The rest of the herd followed in its wake, until the hallway was full of rampaging animals.

The hallway was cramped, and the fathier was fast – the walls and ceiling rushed by too quickly to be safe, with strewn lights hooking onto the creature and Finn both as it rushed on. Poe, who had taken to a jockey's position atop the creature, hugged close to its body, wasn't even aware of the dangers present.

“Too much cover,” Finn spat, just as they reached the far end of the hallway. It opened out onto the outer edge of the city, with open fields and the ocean laid out before them.

The fathiers jumped out into midair, one by one, landing gracefully amidst the cultivated grasses of the nearby city. They dodged forward, all as one, surging into the wild. Soon, Poe heard the guard's craft launch over the city behind them, spotlight still on the herd. Poe nudged the fathier, and it broke off from the heard, diving into the tall grasses in which they'd hidden their ship. The rest of the herd surged forward, toward a large grassy knoll in the distance. The craft overhead followed Poe's fathier, disinterested in the escaped racers.

The fathier raced toward the cliff overlooking the sea, when Poe finally calmed it to a trot. The grasses around them were tall enough to hide them, but could the guards see the ship from above?

Finally, Finn looked up and said, “I think we lost them for now.”

The two dismounted and faced the fathier, still encumbered by its saddle.

“Let's get to the ship. I can track BB-8 and we can get back on track,” Poe told Finn. He started to move, but Finn's hand latched itself onto Poe's elbow.

“Poe, wait.”

Poe gave Finn a questioning look, but Finn wasn't looking at Poe. Instead, Finn walked up to the fathier and gave it a gentle stroke on the neck before disconnecting the saddle. He yanked it off the creature's back and onto the dirt below. “Thank you,” Finn told it. Poe wasn't sure if it understood, but the gentleness in which it bowed its head toward Finn told him it probably did.

The fathier turned away from them and disappeared into the tall grass, leaving them alone to find their ship.

“It was close to the ledge,” Poe recounted. He and Finn exited the grassy sanctuary, close to the cliff's edge, and began to search along the rim. It was then that Poe heard the guard craft fire on something nearby, and a small explosion erupted in the tall grasses. Poe gave a shout of anguish and fell to his knees.

Finn ran over to Poe and shook him at the shoulder, but the pilot just sat there, staring up at the sky with blank eyes.

“We can get another ship,” Finn said. “Let's go.”

“No, Finn.” Poe's words were short and sharp. “Don't you get it? This is the universe telling us we're in over our head. Everything that could have gone wrong here, did.”

“Not everything,” Finn admitted. “At least we're alive.”

Poe gave a sad laugh. “Yeah. Alive, and completely useless to our friends.”

Poe found Finn's hand on his shoulder again, squeezing once again. The warm feeling didn't quite appear this time – just the sinking feeling in Poe's stomach.

The guard's ship was scanning closer and closer to the cliff. They would be caught if they stayed out of the grass.

“C'mon, Poe. Let's get it together,” Finn urged, gripping the pilot's shoulder even tighter.

“I don't know if I can,” Poe whispered, his face falling to stare at the dirt between his knees.

Just then, Poe heard the sound of a starship's engines from over the cliff's edge. Looking out over the see, he saw a sleek white transport rise up from beneath the cliff's edge, hovering in place. Out of the bottom of the ship came an entrance platform, with a small, round, orange droid beeping and whirring at the two men.

“Is...BB-8, are you...” Poe jumped to his feet. “BB-8! Buddy! Where have you been?”

BB-8 started to answer, but a dark-clad man that looked like he'd just had too much to drink stepped out onto the entryway, interrupting it. The jailbreaker gave the two of them a wave and said, 

“T-T-You two need a lift?”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With their "master codebreaker" in tow, Finn and Poe rush back to the First Order ship to disable the tracking beacon. Tensions are high and morale not so much, but they both know what needs to be done.

As a janitor in the First Order, Finn wasn't accustomed to being able to see the outside of a ship during lightspeed. It was beautiful. The way the light bent around the ship, twisting and blending with other sources of light, even the soft vibration of the ship beneath him helped him feel almost relaxed.

He couldn't say the same for Poe. Sitting in the pilot's chair, Poe's hands were gripping the controls too hard. He had a strained look on his face. His eyes weren't bright and full of energy, like they normally were. Finn found this look...disappointing. Sad. But something inside him made him want to be close to Poe, now more than ever, just in case he was needed.

Even BB-8 couldn't snap Poe out of it. Every time the droid tried to talk to Poe, the man would simply wave a hand dismissively and say, “Not right now, buddy.” This, in particular, concerned Finn. He'd never known Poe to ignore BB-8 for _any_ reason.

And then there was DJ, the man from the casino prison cell. He seemed almost bored with everything going on around him. He sat in the back of the bridge, legs splayed out and draped over other seats, a toothpick in his mouth. Finn could barely stand to look at the man – he just teemed with a lack of etiquette and discipline that the First Order would have easily beaten out of him. It was funny – since leaving the Order with Poe, Finn had not stopped and appreciated anything the Order had given him, but this seemed to be one: manners.

“We should tell the Resistance we're on our way back,” Finn told Poe. Poe sat quietly, his face stern, and did not answer. Finn wasn't even sure Poe had heard him. Finn reached for the radio and tuned into the Resistance frequency Rose had set up for them.

“Rose.”

There was no answer.

“Rose. This is Finn. Come in, Rose.”

A pause, then, _way_ too loud, “Ohmygod, Finn! I knew you'd make it! How did it go?” Despite Poe's sour mood, Finn couldn't help but feel a little uplifted at the optimism Rose put forth at all times.

“We're on our way back, Rose. How much time do we have?”

“We have about four and a half hours' worth of fuel left,” Rose replied, sounding a little more urgent than usual. “How far out are you?”

“About three and a half hours. The Order hasn't made any other moves against the Resistance yet, have they?” Finn knew a few tricks that the Order could have employed early on in this little chase they had going, but the sheer arrogance of General Hux and Snoke would allow them to return to the Resistance with little issue.

“No. Things haven't changed here at all, Finn. The lower our fuel gets, the less I think the Admiral actually has any intention of helping us with a plan.”

A twitch. It wasn't much, but Finn saw it. Poe's eyebrow had twitched at the mention of Admiral Holdo. The man himself continued to stay resolutely silent.

“Did you find the master codebreaker?” Rose asked.

“Well, we...” Finn paused. “We found _a_ codebreaker. We've got this. Don't worry.”

“Oh. Well. May the Force be with you.” Rose sounded a little less enthusiastic than usual.

“You too,” Finn said quietly. He ended the transmission.

“She seems nice,” DJ said, from the back of the bridge.

Finn looked over at the shady looking fellow and crossed his arms. “Just don't give her a taser. But what about this mission? Can you do it?”

“I can do it. This is an in and out job. But,” DJ said, fidgeting with his toothpick, “T-T-It ain't gonna be cheap.”

“The Resistance will give you whatever you want,” Finn replied. “Don't worry about payment.”

“Ahhh,” the sound made Finn want to punch a wall. “But I'm gonna need something up front to...assure my motivation for the job.”

At this point, Poe swiveled around in the pilot's seat, and Finn had to take a step back. Poe's eyes were locked on DJ, boring holes into him. Finn had never seen Finn so _angry_.

“You want money before the job,” Poe snapped. “There's no way. We don't even know if you're the guy we were after. We're not giving you a single credit.”

DJ shrugged. “Then I don't know how much help I can be,” he said lazily.

Poe was visibly shaking with rage. Without warning, he leaped forward and found himself far too close to DJ's face. He had a hand in DJ's face, pointing. “You're going to help us, or so help me, I will wring your neck until we can use your leftover corpse for fuel.”

Finn heard a metallic tinkling sound, it was very quiet in the space following Poe's outburst, followed by a calm, collected, “Oh now we're talking” from DJ.

“T-T-That. I want that.”

Poe stood straight up almost as quickly as he'd lunged at the man. Finn didn't see anything, but noticed Poe's face was completely red. Finn stuck himself between the two, as he wasn't sure Poe would be able to restrain himself any longer.

“You. Get. Nothing,” Poe hissed.

DJ shrugged. “Fine. Get us caught. I don't care. Maybe I can give the Order something in exchange for freedom.” DJ placed his hands back behind his head.

“What did he ask for?” Finn asked as Poe turned to sit down at the pilot's station again.

“Nothing.”

“Poe, if he'll take something, maybe we should consider it,” Finn replied urgently. “He _is_ our best shot at this mission, after all.”

Poe took a deep breath, his eyes closed. Then he reached into his tunic and retrieved a silver ring on a chain. Finn hadn't ever noticed that necklace before. The tiny band was...pristine. Poe obviously took good care of it.

“Poe, what is...”

In one swift motion, Poe removed the necklace and flung it at DJ, who didn't have to try to catch it, as it slammed straight into his chest.

“There.” Poe's voice cracked. “Now. Please. Will you do this for us?”

DJ grinned, and more than ever, Finn wanted to punch him in the face. “Sure thing, sweetheart.”

“BB-8, keep the ship on course,” Poe instructed. A positive whine was the droid's response. Poe turned and left the bridge, leaving the three of them in silence. Finn watched him leave, and realized that he needed to follow him. He wasn't sure why, but he needed to.

Poe had retreated to a small cabin on the lower deck, where he had collapsed onto a luxurious-looking chair. Eventually, Finn found the room and stood in the doorway, rather nervously.

“Poe?”

Poe straightened up quickly, obviously surprised by the sudden company. He was facing away from the door, away from Finn. His shoulders were slouched ever so slightly, and his hair looked like he'd been running his hands through it rather roughly.

“Poe. What is it?” Finn entered the room and sat on a bench next to the chair.

Poe looked at Finn, his eyes red and his face flushed. “We did the right thing, right?”

Finn was confused by the question. “I...”

“This plan. We...I...I don't know if I made the right call, Finn.”

“Poe, what's wrong? Just tell me.” Finn placed a hand on Poe's shoulder, but the man didn't seem to notice it.

“That ring, Finn. It was my mother's. It's pretty much all I have left from her, aside from the house I grew up in. It...well, why I was holding it doesn't matter,” he added quickly, “but losing that ring to an ass like him is just another way I've failed during this mission. I've put us all in danger so many times. The Dreadnaught. The blaster at the casino. The fathiers. And for what? I'm the one who approved of this mission. It was my call. The Resistance didn't ask us to do this, Finn. What if the universe really is telling us we're just messing things up more? When are we supposed to start winning?”

Finn's grip on Poe's shoulder tightened, because Finn didn't have an answer for him. They sat in silence for a moment, before Finn finally had a thought.

“What does your gut tell you, Poe?”

Poe brought his head up and looked at Finn, confused. “My...gut?”

“Yeah. You're using your head too much. You're counting the losses, thinking that the mission is cursed, or that we're running out of luck, or whatever. But what does your gut say?”

Poe thought for a moment, silently staring at the space next to Finn. “It...it's telling me I made the right choice,” Poe said, a little weakly for the sentiment. “That we are the Resistance's best chance for escape. That what we're doing is going to save everyone.” He looked Finn in the eye. “It's telling me that I'm with the right person to get this done.”

“Then go with that.” Finn grinned. “Poe, you're a man who makes his own way. I really admire that about you. The situation is bad, maybe impossible, but you're making your own hope. And I can't help but trust your gut, too. After all, it's never steered me wrong.”

Poe gave a heavy laugh. Finn was pretty sure he saw tears in the Captain's eyes. “You really mean that?” he asked.

“Best damn pilot in the galaxy,” Finn affirmed with a nod. He realized he was starting to tear up, too.

Poe couldn't help but laugh, a tear streaming down his right cheek. “Yeah.” He wiped his eyes. “You're right. I've just been letting it catch up to me. A lot of bad things, all at once. Thanks.” Poe put his free hand on Finn's free shoulder and gave Finn a reassuring smile. “You're a good man, Finn.” Finn felt a tickle in his chest, like a laugh that needed to be let out. He relished in the feeling.

“Now,” Poe said, standing up with a smirk and an extended hand, “what do you say we go save the Resistance?”

Finn rose to meet his friend with a firm handshake. “I think that's a great idea, Captain.”

 

Infiltrating the First Order lead ship had been easy. Insultingly so. DJ had sliced through the ship's shield array in two seconds, allowing them safe passage onto the ship, and, using Finn's knowledge of Star Destroyers, they had managed to procure a few First Order Officer uniforms. Poe had even found a good disguise for BB-8, turning over a nearby trash bin and letting it roll around underneath like one of those old MSE series droids.

The rest of the plan was simple – get DJ to the tracking system to hack them in and let BB-8 disable the array. Then, book it back to the ship as quickly as possible, and meet up with the Resistance for the escape before the Order knew what was happening.

To Finn, it was only a little crazier than infiltrating the Starkiller base with no plan at all.

The three men looked each other over to make sure they looked the part. Finn helped Poe adjust his hat, and realized how unfortunately good Poe looked in it. He _was_ a pilot in an armed military, it did make sense he'd look good in a uniform.

“You know,” Poe said, perhaps a little more coyly than he'd intended, as Finn adjusted his hat for him, “it's almost a shame you defected. If I weren't so sick to my stomach having to wear this stuff, I'd say you looked pretty handsome in that outfit.”

Finn rolled his eyes and smiled. “Yeah, well, if you ever give up being a starfighter pilot, you could ask the Order to make you a posterboy for them.”

Poe chuckled, a little nervously, and Finn noticed his cheeks turn a slight shade of pink.

“There.” Finn stepped back and gave Poe a once over. “Looks good.” BB-8 whistled its agreement.

“Would you two stop flirting and come on,” DJ called from the doorway. “T-T-We got a job to do, or am I the only one who remembers?”

Finn felt his own face warm up for a moment, and he and Poe separated for a moment before joining their accomplice at the exit.

“You ready for this, buddy?” Poe asked, clapping Finn on the shoulder from behind.

Finn took a deep breath and gave a great sigh. _Let it all out. We've got this._ “Yeah. Let's do this.”

Finn led his little band of intruders down an open corridor, passing Stormtroopers and officers alike. Finn felt his heart pounding in his chest, and he was sure someone was going to hear it. Some of the officers gave curt nods at their group as they passed by, while most everyone else just ignored them. BB-8 seemed to be having fun, ignoring human protocol and ramming into a couple of Stormtroopers instead of rounding a corner. The impact was loud, but Finn didn't see anyone pay it any mind. The Stormtroopers themselves just gave a quick salute to Finn when he looked over at them, and they continued on their way.

One corridor led to another, then another, then another. It felt like they'd walked for hours. Finally, Finn rounded the final corner, into a long, mostly isolated hallway with a small side exit halfway to the other end. When they approached it, Finn stopped and gave a nod. Once the coast was clear, they scurried into the side hallway and relaxed.

“I'll keep an eye out,” Poe said. He pointed at DJ. “Your turn.”

DJ nodded. “T-T-No sweat.”

Poe walked out of the walkway with BB-8 and turned to make a patrol route, leaving Finn to watch DJ deconstruct a wall panel full of circuitry.

“You sure you can pull this off?” Finn asked.

“Like I said. No sweat.” He looked into the circuitry and stopped. “Huh.”

Finn's heart skipped a beat. “Huh? Huh doesn't sound good. Who says huh?”

DJ reached into his pocket and retrieved Poe's necklace, ring and all. He removed the ring from the necklace and stuck it onto the circuit panel. Finn didn't really see what he was doing, but it looked like he was using the ring as a grip of some sort for a small bolt. With a quick turn of the ring, the bolt loosened and the circuitboard sparked.

DJ put the ring back on the necklace and handed it to Finn. “Here. The guy seems like he needs the little things to keep him going, you know?”

Finn gripped the necklace tight, looking down at his hand. He felt a great warmth from his chest, a lightness he hadn't felt in a while. Finn couldn't help but think about how happy Poe would be when he laid eyes on it. He smiled.

BB-8 rolled up to their little enclave and beeped at Finn. “Finn,” a female voice whispered. “Finn, are you there?”

Finn raised a hand and BB-8 popped a communicator through the gaps in his costume.

“Thanks, buddy,” Finn said. He activated the communicator. “Rose? Is that you?”

“ _Finn!_ Thank the stars you're still alive. What's going on over there?”

“We're at the tracking beacon. We'll have it down in just a few minutes. Is the ship ready to go?”

Rose's voice wavered. “A-About that...”

“Rose...”

“The Leiutenant Admiral found out about the plan. She had Lieutenant Cronnix removed from the bridge, but not before we found out what Holdo is planning.”

“She's got a plan, then?” Finn asked.

“Sort of. They're fueling up the escape shuttles. I think she's planning on trying to evade sensors or something, I don't know. But Finn, if they see a single ship leave the cruiser before they get to blow it up, the Resistance is _over_.”

DJ grinned. “Got it,” he announced.

“Rose, you've got to get back on the bridge. We're gonna drop the tracking beacon in just a few minutes!”

“I'll see what I can do. Holdo doesn't know I'm in on this.”

“Good. And Rose,” he added.

“Yeah?”

“If we don't get back-”

“Nope. Nuh-uh. You don't get to say that. _You're coming home_.”

Finn's mind lingered on that word. _Home_.

The communication cut off from Rose's side. She obviously didn't want to hear any “buts.”

“She really does seem nice,” DJ said, his hands clasped in front of him.

Finn gave DJ a panicked look. “I thought you said you got it? Why isn't the door open?”

DJ raised a drunken finger in the air, then pointed at the door as it hissed open. BB-8 rolled through toward the console, but Finn stuck his head out of their hidey hole to find Poe. DJ followed the droid inside.

Poe wasn't far off. Finn urged him closer, and the two joined DJ and BB-8 in the array room. Finn's heart was pounding, and all he could think about was finishing this stupid mission and going _home_.

“We know how we're getting off this ship?” Poe asked.

Finn stammered for a moment, then nodded. “I know where the nearest escape pods are.”

Poe chuckled. “Of course you do.” He looked at BB-8, who had removed his costume. “All right, buddy, it's all you.”

BB-8 went to work on the console, and in under three minutes, the array had been shut down.

Poe straightened his hat. “Six minutes. Let's go!” The four of them turned on their heels to exit the room, but each stopped dead in their tracks.

A small fleet of Stormtroopers stood in their only exit, an Order officer in front of them with his hands clasped behind his back and a grin on his face.

“Ah, FN-2187,” the officer said, his voice thick with pleasure, “We've been expecting you.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Finn and Poe captured by the First Order and the plan to save the Resistance all but ruined, things look quite grim for our heroes. Will they be able to escape the clutches of the Order and return safely to the Resistance in time to make a difference?

Six minutes. That's how long the Resistance had to jump to lightspeed and evade the First Order's tracking signal. The window of opportunity was small, but BB-8 had created it. If the Resistance had made the jump, then everything would have been worth it. It wouldn't matter that Poe and the others had been caught.

It took almost ten minutes for the Order to escort the group down to the docking bay. Poe never heard a single word about the Resistance making the jump.

Of course, Poe realized that they'd re-enabled the tracking device the moment the intruders were escorted out of the room. That meant that, if the Resistance made the jump, the Order would simply follow. But there had been no sudden lurch from the jump to lightspeed, and Poe would have definitely felt it on a ship this large.

He now knew that he'd acted in haste. Everything that had gone wrong during their mission had been caused by a lack of foresight. Poe had failed to think things through, and Finn did not have the experience to do so. Poe had let Finn, Rose, Leia, and the Resistance down. That realization cut deeper than any blade the Order could use on him.

Poe made a promise to himself: if, by some miracle, they managed to escape, he would try to look at the bigger picture, beyond the battlefield. It was something Leia had been trying to teach him for months, but he'd been too stubborn to notice. And now, because of that stubborn streak, the Resistance was out of time.

The prisoners were surrounded by what seemed like a battalion of Stormtroopers there in the docking bay, but none of them made any moves towards them. They were forced to their knees, their hands bound in front of them, the troopers behind them standing at the ready with blasters aimed at their skulls.

“Finn,” Poe said. He didn't look at his friend, but knew he was listening. “Finn, I'm sorry you got caught up in this.”

Finn hesitated, then replied, “It was my idea, Poe. Don't apologize.”

Poe shook his head. “All you wanted to do was make it safe for Rey to return. And I got the Resistance killed.”

“No one's said that yet,” Finn answered. “We don't know how they're doing.”

The Stormtroopers in front of them parted for an officer with a long cape and bright, burning hair. General Hux stood before them, a smug smirk on his face.

“Ah, FN-2187 and 'Commander' Poe Dameron. It's nice to finally see you two in your proper places: on your knees, clinging to what little life you have left in front of the might of the Order.”

Poe's mouth twitched and his face burned. “Stuff it, Hux.”

Hux's face warped in mock-pity. “What's the matter, 'Commander?' Didn't think we'd notice someone violently overriding one of our best-kept coding sequences?” He laughed. “Is your little family dead now, 'Commander?'”

Poe jerked forward in response, but the trooper behind him smacked him on the back of the head with his rifle and he fell forward before he could stand, landing on the cold, hard floor of the hangar. There was a slight growling noise from Poe's throat as he looked up at Hux with loathing in his eyes.

“And _you_ ,” Hux went on, casually stepping over to stand in front of Finn directly. “You've been quite the thorn in the Order's side. Sure, Dameron here has killed quite a few pilots, but you destroyed a _planet_. Do you realize how many people died that day, FN-2187?”

“My name is Finn,” he replied, gritting his teeth.

Hux's hands came up to his face in fake surprise. “Oh, I'm sorry. Master Finn. What a lovely name. Did whoever gave you that name hit his head as a child?”

Poe, returning to his seated posture, spat at Hux's feet.

“Animals, the lot of you,” Hux sneered. “Such lowly intellect, to think you and your ragtag group could face the might of the Order. Phasma!”

Poe looked over at Finn, whose eyes had widened in shock. The heavy footfalls of the chrome-plated armor of Captain Phasma echoed through the mostly-quiet hangar as she plodded her way to the front of the group, helmet fixated on Finn.

“Yes, General?” Her voice was masked by the helmet, but Poe could hear a sense of joy in it.

“They're yours. Do with them what you will.” Hux about-faced and headed out the way he came – by parting the Stormtroopers like some mythical sea. His position was quickly usurped by Captain Phasma's intimidating form.

“FN-2187, you look surprised to see me,” Phasma said flatly. “Did you really think I wouldn't know the security code to escape _a garbage compactor?_ ”

“Finn!”

The voice was high pitched and panicked, and visibly surprised everyone there, including Phasma.

“Finn! It's Rose! Finn, come in! I wasn't able to get the cruiser to jump in time. Finn, the Order saw the escape shuttles! _They're firing on us_. Two, maybe three shuttles are already gone.”

Poe's heart sank. How could they have noticed the escape shuttles from that distance? Unless...

“ _You_.”

Behind a Stormtrooper off to the side of Phasma, Poe had noticed a dark-clad man, back in his street clothes, counting a small stack of credit chits taken from a large stack of boxes. DJ looked over at Poe and gave a quick wave and a smile.

“T-T-I made a deal. Got myself off of the firing squad.” DJ seemed almost proud of his actions.

This time, Poe made it to his feet, rage pumping adrenaline through his veins. He rushed the line of Stormtroopers, hands still bound, but they grabbed him by the arms and pulled him back to struggle next to Finn. “You underhanded, sneaky, back-stabbing son of a-”

“I just did what anyone would have done to save themselves,” DJ replied curtly. “It's dog-eat-dog out there, and this'll help me eat my fill.” He patted the pile of black boxes containing credit chits. “After all, it's not like I took a side here. I helped you, I helped them, I helped everybody. It's best to look out for yourself when you know you just can't come out on top.”

“You're wrong,” Finn replied quietly. His calm, collected rejection of DJ's ideal soothed Poe's rage enough that he allowed himself to be forced back to his knees.

DJ shrugged. “Yeah. Maybe.” He turned his back to the two of them, and walked off.

“Finn...please. _Please_. Please come in.” Rose's voice was strained, scared. Poe could practically hear the tears running down her face.

Phasma bent down and found the communicator in Finn's pocket. “Tell her the truth,” she ordered, activating the device.

“Rose,” Finn muttered. Poe noticed the distinct sound of regret in his voice, and that acted to punch him straight in the gut for taking Finn along on this mission. “Rose, they got us. I'm sorry, Rose.”

Rose's end was silent for a moment. Everyone waited with baited breath – Phasma seemed to be enjoying the show. Finally, a new voice sounded over the device: older, raspy, with a definite air of authority.

General Leia Organa's voice resounded through the hangar like an explosion. “Finn. Poe.” The words were short. Powerful. And...full of hope.

“May the Force be with you both.”

The device deactivated from Leia's end, and Phasma tossed it over her shoulder. She gave a laugh and backed up to get a better view of both of her prisoners.

“That's all your dear general has to say?” Phasma laughed again. “Pathetic. You don't even deserve a blaster to the head.” She turned and made a motion to a couple of Stormtroopers behind her. “Let's make it _hurt._ ”

The troopers who responded held electro-glaives, rudimentary polearms with powerful electrical currents sparking as blades at one end. They would tear through the flesh while electrocuting every nerve in the body. Essentially, it was torture until death.

Phasma raised her hand, and the glaives went up with it. “Any last words?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Finn spat, surprising Poe. Poe looked over at his colleague, and saw Finn sitting up as straight as he could, his head held high and his eyes full of defiant fire, staring straight at Phasma. “Don't get cocky, thinking you've won.”

“Oh?” Phasma lowered her hand slightly, waiting for Finn to continue.

“Somewhere, there's more people willing to fight you,” Finn said. “Somewhere out there, you're going to meet your match. And it won't be won with guns and fighters and starships,” Finn added. Poe's face slowly cracked into a smile. “It will be with the hope those people make for themselves. Tyrants like you always get what's coming to them. You can kill people and you can enslave them, but you can't stop them from hoping. You can't stop them from turning that longing into action.”

Poe felt inexplicably lighter. His grin spread. Finn's eyes never blinked, his gaze never wavered.

“People will see the Order for what it really is, and they'll rise up against it, because they're worth fighting for,” Finn finished. He settled back down on his legs, but his face continued to leer up at Phasma, unblinking.

Phasma chuckled. “Hope. You think _hope_ will win this war.” She looked at Poe. “And what of you, oh supreme pilot?”

Poe's grin persisted through her gaze. He nodded his head in Finn's direction. “I think he pretty much said it all.”

“Ah. Pity.” Phasma's hand raised again, and Poe found himself shoved violently to the floor, the electro-glaive just a hair's breadth from his head. He could feel the static radiating off of it already. “Ready.”

The glaives raised up into their ready positions. Poe looked straight forward, seeing Finn there, with his head pinned to the ground. They shared a locked gaze. It wasn't a fearful look, and it wasn't regret that Poe saw in Finn's eyes. Finn's eyes were still filled with a fierce determination. Poe gave a sad smile, his own eyes soft and full of admiration for the man with who he now shared a proud end. He closed his eyes, acknowledging that, despite the fact that Finn had been dragged into this conflict against his will, he'd finally found a reason to fight.

“Execute.”

Before the glaives could move, Poe noticed that he still felt quite light from Finn's rather uplifting little speech. But wait, that was a figurative lightness.

This was a literal, _floating off the floor_ lightness. Something nearby was entering lightspeed. Something _very_ nearby.

The sound was deafening. Something had breached the ship, on multiple levels, and had passed almost directly through the hangar on its way to the next ship. The ship lurched and jerked, and everyone still on their feet found themselves flying through the air. Finn and Poe, flat on the ground, merely lifted off of the floor and slammed into it a few times. Debris and electrical systems fell from the levels above. Finally, one final buck of the ship threw Poe clear across the hangar, and Finn in the other direction.

Poe landed with a heavy thud, his head banging on the floor. For a moment, his vision blurred, but it quickly return to normal. Beside him was a Stormtrooper, who had been impaled by a falling girder. The trooper's blaster had fallen out of its hand. Poe grabbed the blaster and aimed it at his shackles, forcibly removing them. He winced at the small searing pains he felt on his thumbs from being that close to a blaster shot. He'd probably have some lingering scars there for a while.

Now freed, Poe jumped to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. There were several areas of the hangar riddled with debris, some burning, others sparking uncontrollably. Bodies littered the floor, both from rubble and from panicked blaster fire. It seemed that most of the ships in the hangar had been completely obliterated.

“Finn!” Poe called. There was no answer, but Poe did see a dark-skinned individual in an officer's uniform in the distance, halfway across the hangar. Poe made a mad dash for that distant figure, when blaster fire erupted from nearby. Ducking behind some fallen debris, Poe readied the stolen blaster in his hand, ready to defend himself. Firing a few shots over the wall in front of him, he returned each volley of blaster shots with a volley of his own.

A much larger bolter blast passed overhead, toward the Stormtroopers, and Poe heard several of them cry out in pain and confusion. Looking at the source, Poe saw an AT-ST walker firing from its hangar station, aiming directly at Stormtroopers. It began to move forward, its top half still firmly connected to the hangar. Ripping itself free, the cockpit revealed a small round, orange droid at the controls. It whistled a hello to Poe.

“BB-8! I sure am glad to see you, buddy,” Poe called. He fired a few more bolts over the debris, then got up and met the AT-ST's legs. BB-8 lowered the body, and Poe hopped on. Poe gave the droid a gracious, vigorous rub, then pointed across the hangar. “Finn's over there. Let's go get him.” The walker lurched forward, and Poe turned to face its rear, firing at Stormtroopers that popped up to fire at them.

As the walker base made its way across the hangar floor, Poe saw Finn now _dueling_ with Captain Phasma, using one of the very electro-glaives he was about to be executed with minutes ago. It wasn't a pretty duel – Phasma obviously had more skill with martial weapons than Finn – but Finn wasn't going down easily. The power the man showed with each swing of the glaive was impressive, and the electrical currents seemed to dance and play with Phasma's armor, throwing off her senses.

Phasma managed to kick Finn to the floor, the glaive just out of his reach. Poe felt a surge of concern. It was all over for Finn if they didn't do something. He aimed the blaster at Phasma, who had raised her quarterstaff over her head for a final blow, and let the bolt fly. It slammed into her hand, and the quarterstaff went tumbling harmlessly to the ground. She cried out in pain loud enough for Poe to hear quite some distance away, and turned to face the traitor who had aimed at her.

BB-8 quickly pulled the guns on the platform around, sending a single shot straight at Phasma. It slammed into her chest, throwing her back several meters before she rutted along the floor. She staggered to her feet, still alive thanks to her admirably sturdy armor, only to be met with a grand uppercut swing from Finn with the electro-glaive. Poe winced as he watched her go flying up through the air and down onto a lowered platform beneath Finn.

They quickly caught up to Finn, and Poe launched himself off the walker's base, landing next to his comrade. Finn stared down at a broken, beaten Phasma, scorch marks on her armor and a hole punched in her helmet. It revealed a startlingly blue eye, seething with hatred for the men she saw above her.

“You,” she gasped, “will always be scum.”

“That's _Rebel_ scum to you,” Finn corrected her. Poe saw a release latch on the platform just above Phasma's head. He aimed his blaster, and disengaged the latch, causing the platform to drop out from under the First Order's Captain. This plummeted her to the next deck down, which appeared more flame than ship at this point. She was silent in her fall, indignant until the end. The flames soon blocked her from view, and Poe could not tell where she had landed, if she'd managed to find solid ground at all.

Finn turned to Poe and, surprising Poe, wrapped his arms around him. Poe suddenly found that his arms had wrapped themselves around Finn, as well.

“We're alive,” Finn whispered.

Poe laughed and broke away. “Not for long if we don't get off of this ship. Need a lift?” he asked, gesturing to the walker base, with BB-8 riding atop it. Finn just grinned.

The two clamored up onto the walker base and looked for any way off the ship. “There's a shuttle over there,” Poe said, showing BB-8 the way. “Let's go, buddy.”

BB-8 turned the walker, still firing at random Stormtroopers, and launched it into a run toward the shuttle. It took only a matter of minutes before the three of them found themselves on board, squeezing into the cockpit together. Poe settled in the pilot seat, and before long, they were up and out the hangar's still mostly intact entryway. They excused themselves from the rowdy, dying First Order ship, and sailed out into the quiet of space.

“BB-8, try to find out where the transport shuttles were going from the Resistance frigate,” Poe instructed. “I see a planet over there, I'm assuming they headed that way.”

BB-8 beeped his agreement, and began working the controls. Poe turned to Finn, who was staring out the window towards the First Order ship.

“Poe. Look.”

The carnage was incredible. The _Supremacy_ was broken clean in two, with almost every other First Order ship burning around it. Whatever had jumped to lightspeed had jumped directly through Snoke's flagship, and the residual wake of energy had utterly throttled the rest of the Order's fleet.

“I've never seen anything like that,” Poe whispered, unable to take his eyes off the debris floating through space. “Who...what did that?”

“I don't see the Resistance frigate,” Finn replied. “No remains, nothing. Poe, I think someone piloted the frigate into them.”

“That's suicide,” Poe replied. “Who would have-” but he cut himself off.

Of course. Of _course_ she would.

Poe closed his eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. Now he owed her his life, too. How do you pay back something like that to someone who just sacrificed herself for the good of the Resistance?

BB-8 beeped at Poe, signalling that he'd found an old Rebel outpost on the surface of the planet. Poe nodded in response. “Let's head there, then. If there's any power, Leia would probably want to use it to get out a distress signal.” BB-8 agreed, and veered the shuttle in that direction.

Poe turned and faced Finn, a smirk on his face. “So, Finn.”

Finn didn't look at Poe, as he was still surveying the First Order wreckage. “Yeah?”

“Did you really mean all that stuff you told Phasma?” He didn't need Finn to tell him so, but he really wanted him to.

Finn looked over at Poe, confused. “Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I?”

Poe's heart swelled and his face widened into a rather goofy-looking grin. “That was really brave of you, Finn. It was inspiring. And you know what?”

Finn cocked his head, confused. “What?”

“You gave me hope. Even with no way out, you gave me hope that we'd see everyone else again.”

Poe reached forward and pulled Finn into a tight hug.

“Thank you,” the pilot said in barely more than a whisper.

Finn hugged him back, but pulled away. “Oh, I have something you might want.” Poe followed the man's hands with a somewhat confused interest as it entered his First Order uniform and retrieved a silver necklace with a small silver ring attached to it.

Poe couldn't remember the last time he'd started crying quite so quickly.

Without thinking, Poe leaned forward, kissed Finn on the cheek, and hugged him as tightly as he could allow himself. Finn sat, a little stunned, but the hug soon became mutual.

They pulled away, and Poe couldn't help but stare directly into Finn's eyes. Those eyes had seen a lot recently, and the resolve behind them had been tested, time and again. But there was a warmth there, a caring, that Poe couldn't look away from.

“Here,” Finn said, fumbling to hand Poe the necklace.

Poe stopped Finn's hands and closed them on the necklace. “No. Keep it.”

Finn, shocked, looked down at the necklace. “What? No. I can't keep this. It was your mother's.”

Poe gave a warm smile, reached up, and gave a gentle caress to Finn's cheek. “You keep it, Finn. It suits you.”

Finn didn't say anything. He just continued to stare at the necklace, a solid blush across his face and neck. Poe let it go at that, wiping his eyes and turning back to face the oncoming planet. He noticed a few First Order transports heading for planetfall, as well, obviously chasing the remnants of Leia's forces.

“All right, guys,” he said, his grin spreading once again as he seized the controls of the shuttle, “let's go save the Resistance.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my reinterpretation of "The Last Jedi" and its somewhat polarizing Canto Bight plot. It means a lot to me that you managed to stick with me to the end. I hope my decision to keep the general outcome of the plot the same did not upset you. I actually enjoyed the concept of failure as a teacher, and enjoyed seeing the transformation the characters had undergone throughout the film. I hope my interpretation helped make that a little more bearable to those who didn't particularly agree with that decision.
> 
> Again, thank you for reading. I look forward to creating new, more unique stories for the fandom in the future.
> 
> Edit: I have decided to use this work as the basis for a series of fics that will end the First Order conflict. It will be almost as if I'm just following the film's premise, but some things, such as Poe's ring (and therefore their relationship) will be based on this interpretation, as well as Rose's involvement in the events of the film. I hope you can stick with me on this journey.
> 
> -Tig


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